Journalists’ organisations on Monday strongly criticised the Assam Police for what they described as “vindictive actions” against digital news platform The Wire and its senior journalists.
The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) expressed “dismay” at the state police’s decision to invoke Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — the new sedition provision — against The Wire for the second time in two months.
The move comes despite a Supreme Court order on August 12 protecting The Wire’s journalists, including founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan, from “any coercive action” in connection with a July case filed in Morigaon. On the same day, however, the Guwahati Crime Branch summoned Varadarajan and veteran journalist Karan Thapar in connection with a fresh FIR lodged under the same provision, the Wire reported.
According to the PCI and IWPC, the summons — scheduled for August 22 — warns that failure to comply could result in arrest. “It is noteworthy that the summons were issued on August 12, 2025, even as the Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had granted Varadarajan and all journalists at The Wire protection,” the organisations said in a joint statement.
The bodies recalled that in May 2022, the Supreme Court had suspended the operation of the colonial-era sedition law under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. Section 152 of the BNS, they said, is “a repackaged version” of that law and has already been challenged by The Wire in the apex court. The petition prompted the Court to issue notice to the Assam government and other parties last week.
The joint statement, signed by PCI president Gautam Lahiri, PCI secretary general Neeraj Thakur, IWPC president Sujata Raghaban, and IWPC secretary Aditi Bahl, warned that the latest case shows how Section 152 is being used “as a tool to target the media in India.”
“While we welcome the relief given by the Supreme Court to The Wire and Varadarajan last week, the registration of a new case against him and Karan Thapar makes it apparent that Section 152 has become a tool with which to target the media in India,” the statement read.
The PCI and IWPC demanded the immediate withdrawal of the FIRs against The Wire journalists and called for the repeal of Section 152, which they described as “draconian” and a threat to free expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
“As can be seen from the actions of the Assam Police, Section 152 of BNS has been weaponised to chill the press into silence,” the organisations said.